by Jill Cooper
The people of Rottenwood were dying and they would continue to die until Creighton had his revenge on all of them. There was no stopping it and the only thing he could do was keep his head down. He could only beg the minister to make an exception for him and Evelyn.
He heard calls of pain coming from the side streets as he reached the minister’s office. Beside it, the warehouse where the rations came from was empty. No one guarded the front, and from outside, Mitchell saw that the shelves were barren. He didn’t even see a bag of oats.
His stomach clenched painfully with hunger.
Opening the front door, Mitchell stepped inside the warm building. He slipped his shoes off so not to muddy the velvet carpets and he pulled his hat from his head. A secretary sat behind a desk and she appeared refined and pulled together.
But, as her eyes met his, Michell saw the weariness in her face. The bun she wore was ragged and coming free. “Mr. Richardson? I don’t think it’s a good idea that you’re here.” She shook her head. “You’re better off at home than you are here, you can trust me on that.”
If only she knew. “I need to see the minister. I used to work for him. Surely, he’ll give me a few minutes of his time.”
She shook his head. “You’re being a fool, sir. He’ll have you killed. Creighton roams free here and we are all subject to his whims.”
Mitchell swallowed his fear. “Tell me where the Minister of City Affairs is and I’ll find him. I won’t tell him I heard it from you. I’d take that to my grave, Cecil.”
She stared off with a sigh. “The dining lounge with the other ministers. They’re in a meeting. You can’t just go in there.”
“I won’t. I’ll wait for a break. I promise.” Mitchell gripped her hand in thanks. “Take care of yourself, Cecil.”
Sadly, she smiled. “That’s all we can do now, Mitchell. Take care of ourselves.”
It was all he had ever done, but Mitchell wanted to make things right. He hadn’t been faithful to Evelyn, and while she wasn’t blameless, now he had to take care of her. She deserved that much, didn’t she?
****
Mitchell tiptoed up to the double-wide, solid oak door which lead into the dining hall. With a careful tug, he pulled the door open, only enough to see inside. The bar was fully stocked, the fireplace roared with warmth, and all the tables had been pushed together to form one long table for all the ministers.
They all looked so much alike. Each dressed in a pin striped suit with a similar style bowler hat on their head. The men all had mustaches and the walking cane with the gems. Twelve strong ministers gathered around the table to break bread.
And what a feast it was. Just smelling it, Mitchell drooled. Fresh roasted turkey with stuffing, hot gravy, buttered biscuits, buttered peas, and mashed potatoes. It was a meal fit for a king and Mitchell was so hungry, he would’ve settled for bread and water. But this… for them to sit around and gorge themselves while those in town starved…
He’d do anything to join them and get Evelyn to join them, too.
“This meeting of the minister elders has come to session,” The Minister of City Affairs from Rottenwood said. “Good to see you, gentlemen. Can I offer anyone a glass of wine before we get started?”
“Yes, please.”
“Too kind of you, Minister.”
The Minister of City Affairs smiled. “Anything for you, Minister. Let’s first go around and discuss conditions in the other cities. Worship is going strong. Creighton’s power grows.”
“What of the rumors of the last curator? Are we going to discuss how she managed to slip past into the Unforgiving Lands and what she’s been up to since?”
The last curator? Mitchell thought they might’ve been discussing Abby, the young woman his son should’ve married.
A knife clinked against fine China. “She wishes to destroy Creighton and all of us with him. Spies in the north-east say she has collected the crystal remnants. They’re tracking her movements. With those, she’s almost invincible to us, but she’s still human. She can still be killed.”
“Even when I go to the grand temple to meditate, I can’t feel her anymore,” one of the ministers said. “It’s as if she has just disappeared from this Earth.”
The grand temple? Mitchell wondered what that was.
The Minister of City Affairs sighed. “We’ve all been here before, haven’t we? With the first curator, but we outlasted her. Same with this Abby Taylor. We just need to survive and stick to the plan.”
“Too true, but the world is running out of food. Creighton is killing those who are supposed to worship and fuel him. What is his end game?”
Mitchell would like to know that, as well.
“It isn’t our job to question,” the Minister of City Affairs said. “It is our job to follow through on his orders. Just as we have for the last six hundred years. We pledge our allegiance to him, over all else.”
“Over all else,” the ministers repeated and they sounded like mindless drones.
The way they said it, made him afraid—very much afraid. He backed up to get out of there. Suddenly, he questioned all his choices and thought escape was his best course of action.
He bumped into someone and Mitchell’s eyes widened as a skeletal hand grasped his shoulder and spun him around. Mitchell swallowed hard. “Dark Lord Creighton, please forgive me.”
The Dark Lord peeled his hood back and stared into Mitchell’s eyes. In there, he saw nothing but shadow and death. A feeling of cold came over him, and a moment later, Mitchell fell to the ground, unconscious, but still alive.
****
Mitchell groaned as he came to. He pushed off the floor and his head thumped with pain. Groaning, he lay back down and opened his eyes. His face lay against a thick gray and white carpet and he instantly recognized it. He was in the Minister of City Affair’s private office.
The minister tapped him with his cane. “Up now, Mitchell. There’s no time for rest and this is no place for sleeping.”
He hurried up to his feet, the pain thudding in his head even stronger. “I’m sorry, Minister.” Mitchell saw the fireplace was raging and on the small coffee table a plate of powdered cookies. They had always been his favorite.
“He’s not here.” The minister smirked. “He gave me my orders, so why don’t you have a cookie and tell me why you came here today.”
Normally, Mitchell wouldn’t eat in front of the minister, but he was so hungry, he snatched a cookie from the plate and bite into half of it. It was good, too good. Mitchell wished he could’ve eaten every cookie on the plate.
“My wife is struggling with her work. We’ve had hardly any food or water. Soon, we’ll be dead if things don’t change.”
“I see and what would you see change? What would Mitchell Richardson do? The man whose own son lay with the house servant and he didn’t even know it until it was too late?”
Mitchell stuttered and gasped, staring down at his fingers coated in powdered sugar. He didn’t know what to say.
The minister held in a laugh and poked the floor with his walking stick. “Creighton was right, then. He was right about the father of Dani Richardson’s child. It’s you.”
“Minister!” Mitchell’s eyes widened and he prepared to launch into strong denials, but the Minister of City affairs held up his hand.
“Please, spare yourself the embarrassment. I felt her deception when I greeted her in Beantown. She was afraid of me and when I placed my hand upon her child and I felt… something special. Creighton, too, is interested in this child. He thinks… well, who am I to speak for him?”
“Please, don’t terminate Dani or the child. Please, Minister. It was my idea. I thought if I could save three lives… Please forgive me of my deception. If you see fit to strike me down, I’m prepared to bare the burden for both Dani and myself.”
The minister put his hands into his pockets and paced over to the fireplace. He stared into the flame. “If it was up to me, I would terminate you, the slave
, and your grown son, but it’s not. Creighton thinks you’re important and will serve this office well.”
Mitchell’s eyes widened. “Yes, Minister. I’ll do whatever is necessary so that we can live with the ministers and continue to do our good work. I promise you that.”
The minister grumbled, working his lips together. “It was foolish to come here, I’ll tell you that, but the Dark Lord sees it as brave. He wishes to reward you with a good life. If you’ll pledge yourself to him and to everything this office does. I warn you, what you’ll be asked to do… your soul will not survive.”
“But Dani and my sons? They will?”
The minister nodded. “You will be an official representative for this office. You’ll live here, you’ll work here, be at our beck and call, but you will live. You’ll have food to eat. Something that sadly is on it’s way out of Rottenwood.” The minister sighed and raised his eyebrows. “Unfortunate, this has always been one of my favorite towns.”
Mitchell nodded without hesitation but felt the regret for his town, and all those living in it. “I pledge it, Minister. I pledge it.”
“Good.” The minister returned to his desk and picked up a steaming cup of tea. “You will move in immediately after your show of devotion.”
“Minister?” Mitchell furrowed his eyebrows.
“Your wife, Evelyn. Creighton is going to require you to kill her.”
Chapter Tarnish Rose
We were walking twelve-hour days through overgrown wilderness that showed evidence of decimation each way we turned. Old roads, now overgrown with grass and weeds, fallen street signs and warnings painted on the back of crumbled buildings for those venturing further to turn back. The old cities were haunted cemeteries and an eerie calm fell over us.
Outside of the cities were damp forests of trees. The smell of decay and death was stronger than I would’ve liked. I wished we could’ve stayed on the paved roads, but where we needed to go, there were no roads.
Small animals rustled in the grass and trees and Ella gasped. “I prefer not to venture into such wilderness. Places like these are haunted by more than just spirits—and they have pointed teeth.”
“Just a bunny,” Beatrice said, “and it should be our dinner for the night. Hopefully a few of its friends, too.” She pulled the bow off her pack and reached for an arrow.
“We’ll make camp up this way. Join us when you can,” Sebastian said.
Beatrice nodded. “Hunting is a singular thing. I’ll be back soon. Get the fire ready for dinner.” Hunched down low, she ran off, jumping into the grass, and scurrying off like a small animal herself.
Ella raised her eyebrows. “I guess I should feel lucky we have her, but she is funny.”
Robbie cast a full on glare to Ella. “You should feel very lucky to have her. Lucky enough that I allow you to eat what she hunts.”
Ella sneered and stomped her foot. “Why does everyone hate me so much?”
I felt bad for her as we found a place to camp. Sebastian started to collect sticks for the fire, and Robbie collected logs for us to use as chairs. I investigated the area, pushing the grass away with my foot. Beneath the layers of overgrowth was black pavement with two yellow lines. I found a sign that said 340 Frederick and wondered what it meant.
A hint of the civilization long past. If I lost the war against the Dark Lord Creighton, we’d join them.
By the time I got to camp, the fire burned brightly and Beatrice was returning with two dead bunnies and a wild turkey. Off to the side of our camp, she cleaned the rabbits and removed the feathers from the bird. She was skilled in more ways than I knew.
We were lucky to have her. I hadn’t known someone could eat so well out in the wilderness. If my momma could see… well, she’d love the idea of a turkey dinner.
My mouth was thick with grief and my mind swirled with thoughts of vengeance as I sat next to Sebastian on a log. He made room for me and gave me a smile. “How are your hands healing?”
“Better,” I said and gave my hands a gentle flex. They didn’t feel like leather anymore—a marked improvement.
“Maybe now, if you’re feeling better, you can show us the completed remnant?” Robbie asked. “Just so we can see. It’s not that I don’t believe you, I do…”
Ella rolled her eyes. “You don’t need to blather on. I’m sure she’ll show you. She loves to show off. Go on already, Tarnish.”
I opened my messenger bag and took the remnant out. Holding it in both of my palms, I extended my arms for both Robbie and Beatrice to see. She gasped in awe, the hunting knife still in her hand. “It’s beautiful,” Beatrice said with a haunted voice. “I can see ice crystals forming inside of it.”
“That’s not what I see,” Robbie whispered, afraid. “I see burning fire and ghosts.”
“I see abandoned halls,” Sebastian added. “Lonely and withered with nothing to keep you company but the echo of your own voice.”
“What about you?” I asked Ella.
She shrugged. “I see nothing.”
“You must see something.”
“No, I mustn’t see anything. I see nothing. Maybe I’m the only one with their feet planted in reality,” Ella huffed, crossing her arms.
“How about you, Tarnish?” Sebastian smirked. “What is it you see?”
“I see history and I see family. I see my past before I was even born. I see everything lost and everything he will soon find again.”
****
Food long eaten, the fire continued to burn as my crew went to sleep for the night. Ella and I were on first watch—me watching for the enemy and making sure Ella didn’t do anything she shouldn’t. We didn’t stroll far from the border of camp, but kept an eye out and patrolled.
I gazed up at the blanket of stars not visible from Rottenwood or from the other cities. They twinkled with beauty, and I had trouble glancing away from them, wondering what Papa would think if he could see them, if he wasn’t already dead.
Maybe now he soared high as a star and watched me with pride. My chest welled with sadness at the mere thought of how we fought in the days leading up to me leaving home. How I fought with him and mother. Now, I’d never see them again or say how sorry I was.
“You look awfully upset for someone looking at the sky. Most people think it looks pretty or at least nice.”
I turned and faced Ella. “Just thinking about my parents.”
“Well, don’t.”
“Don’t?” I asked incredulously.
Ella nodded. “Yeah, don’t. They’re dead, you’re sad. Nothing good can come of thinking about them, trust me, I know.”
Her words about my parents angered me, but Ella spoke more of her own parents and her history. I couldn’t stay mad at her long. “It must hurt to think about your parents.”
Ella’s brow crinkled. “I don’t think of them. Why would I? They traded me to the Temptress and for what? Food? A little money?”
“What about your brother? You must think of him.”
“Sometimes,” Ella muttered with a dispassionate shrug. “It was a long time ago. We were kids. I can’t remember him very well. Sometimes I think I can and then it’s gone again in an instant. Not that any of it matters. Look at this place and what we’re doing. Everybody dies. We all feel pain.”
She was somber and serious, I barely recognized her as Ella. “I’m still sorry you went through it.”
“Well, don’t be. Don’t pity me. I don’t deserve it and I’m certainly not worth your sympathy.”
We patrolled back the way we came. Bushes and trees blocking access to our camp. As we got closer, the hair on my arms started to rise up and my neck tingled. Something among the trees unsettled me and I stopped. I faced the rustling branches, watching the leaves shift in what I assumed was a breeze.
But my breath appeared before me in a cloud, the air suddenly growing very cold. Ella stopped two paces in front of me and she didn’t turn around. “Did you hear something?” She asked in a scared wh
isper.
I pulled my staff free as a blue haired wolf jumped out of the trees toward me. His teeth snarled at me in mid air and his giant front paws extended toward me. “Run!” I screamed as I swatted the wolf away, wielding my staff at the beast. It knocked him over and I backed up, holding myself defensively. The wolf whined and lunged, grabbing the middle of my staff, yanking me forward. I didn’t have time to get my books or the remnant, fearing the wolf would tear me apart. Struggling, I yanked my staff free, throwing the wolf to my left, right into a tree.
I ran toward camp and heard voices and bodies rustling to their feet. Ella had gotten the calvary together. I leapt over a fallen log, but was yanked back as the wolf sunk his teeth into my satchel.
Twisting my torso, I grabbed my bag, yanking it, but the wolf held on strong, shaking its head as it raged. Its lips pulled up, revealing his teeth, as he yanked the bag back. “No!” I screamed and hung on tight.
The wolf pulled and I fell onto my back, clinging to my bag as the wolf ran deeper into the forest. “Tarnish!” Sebastian screamed, his footsteps coming faster as he chased after us.
“He wants the remnant!” I screamed, my body banging over every bump and rock in the dirt. When we came to a tree, I slammed straight into it, my arms straight out and the messenger bag came free.
“No!” I scurried forward, throwing my body toward the bag, lunging and gripping at the dirt to catch it.
Except I couldn’t. The wolf ran so much faster than I did. I couldn’t catch him.
I struggled up to my feet and ran, running towards where the wolf had gone, hoping and praying I could find him. I hadn’t pieced the crystal shards together just to have the completed remnant stolen by a beast at the final moments.
The remnant belonged to me and I needed it back.
Chapter: Tarnish Rose
I should’ve waited for backup, but I followed the wolf’s trail. I was embarrassed I had lost my bag to a beast, but obviously, it wasn’t a regular animal. It was drawn to me and the power I carried with me, which meant it was more than meets the eye.
